


It's (NOT) an Elaborate Cosplay

by bastanubis29



Series: #Nomin: The pure couple we deserve [6]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Characters, Donghyuck's only mentioned, Established Relationship, Jaemin's a villain, Jeno's a superhero, M/M, jisung's only mentioned, mark's only mentioned, slight angst, so is renjun, superhero au, will probably come back an elaborate on this fic later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 22:19:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15422835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bastanubis29/pseuds/bastanubis29
Summary: Oh. Look. Still gay. Still in love. Still trying their best. This time they have superpowers.





	It's (NOT) an Elaborate Cosplay

Jeno and Jaemin have been roommates for almost two years now; Jaemin would say that he knows his roommate better than anyone else on the planet.

Here’s the thing: Jeno has a secret. A secret that literally only his mom and best friend know.

Despite everything that Jaemin says, Renjun is Jeno’s best friend. And crime-fighting partner. (That’s the part that Jaemin can and will never know.)

Jeno’s gotten very used to keeping this aspect of his life a secret from his roommate (and boyfriend). He’s really good at it. He has an arsenal of excuses for why he’s covered in scratches and bruises, why he’s out late into the night, or why he has to leave abruptly after hearing of an ongoing crime on the news.

His job makes it easy to lie; being part of Seoul’s largest news companies makes it easy for him to slink off under the excuse of it being “for a story, Jaemin! I’ve got to get it before Jisung does!”.

See, Jaemin will never know that his boyfriend Jeno, scared of spiders and public speaking by day, is actually half of the city’s prime crime-fighting duo by night. He’ll never know that Jeno has been going by the name of Hurricane for the last four years, or that his ‘co-worker’, Renjun, is Shifter.

(The names were courtesy of them being far too lazy to come up with anything creative: Rejun can shift into animals, and Jeno can control clouds. (Which seemed like a lame power until he figured out that lightning and thunder were also under his domain, as well as wind if he really concentrated.)).

He tries not to lie to Jaemin about other things to make up for it. In his eyes, honesty is his best policy unless it comes to his nighttime activities.

Those he will lie about until the day he dies.

* * *

 

Becoming a super villain was not an intentional career path. Jaemin can’t remember when he started using his powers to take down the top businesses in Seoul, he only knows that it was a result of any and all news reports on the corruption of and abuse from the upper class.

He would call villainy a side job, however. Most days, he works as an art teacher at the elementary school down the road from his apartment. (He wouldn’t call it villainy, either. More vigilantism, but that is also against the law, so he’s a criminal either way.)

Hex hadn’t been a daily part of his life until about two years ago, when the man he lightheartedly calls his nemesis started thwarting every single one of his attempts to shut down a particularly large drug operation. 

He tries to keep his villainy on the down-low; there’s no reason to drag any of that home to his loving boyfriend. He keeps his gear in the astral plane, and ensures that Jeno will never know about any of his nighttime activities.

* * *

 

It is three in the afternoon, and Jeno is faced with a literal car flying directly at him. He really can’t tell exactly what this Hex guy’s powers are, it seems to be anything and everything under the sun, he only knows that his main priority is to not get hit in the face. He doesn’t know how he’d explain that to Jaemin.

“C’mon, Hex! We know that this’ll end as it always does, so why don’t you just turn yourself over already?” Renjun - Shifter - calls up at him while Jeno blows the car into the building beside them. People are really lucky that superhero-related damages are now covered by insurance.

“You mean with me escaping into the sunset and you scratching your heads as to how I do it? Why would I give myself up while you make it so easy to get away?”

And get away he does, disappearing off into the sunset (though it’s 3:30, why the heck is there a sunset) just as he said he would.

* * *

 

Jeno swings through the window of the apartment, still fully dressed in his spandex costume. Jaemin isn’t supposed to be in for another hour or so, so he has ample time to nurse his wounds and change.

Or, so he thinks.

Sitting on the couch is Jaemin, staring at Jeno with his mouth wide open.  _ I threw a car at my boyfriend’s head today,  _ the thought flies unbidden through his head.

They stare at each other for a moment, Jeno’s eyes searching Jaemin’s from behind the deep blue mask he wears to hide his identity.

“Jeno,” Jaemin starts, pushing up onto his knees. “Please tell me that this is just a really elaborate cosplay.”

Jeno smiles like an idiot, shrugs his shoulders, and says, “Surprise?”

Jaemin sighs and closes his eyes for a moment, wondering when this became his life. It just had to be Jeno, didn’t it? That’s his karmic retribution for being a super villain.

In a way, it’s so ironic that Jaemin wants to laugh. For all his sneaking around and covering his tracks, Jeno had been doing the same. But he doesn’t laugh. He simply stares and tries to figure out if this is the best opening he’s ever going to get to admit to being Hex.

“Jaemin? Babe, please say something.”

Jeno just looks so worried, and Jaemin doesn’t want him to be. He knows that honesty is a big deal for Jeno, and he just has to admit to it.

Reaching into the astral plane, he pulls his own costume onto him and awaits… handcuffs, maybe? A gasp?

But Jeno is struck to the same amount of staring that Jaemin had been only a few moments prior, mouth open and seemingly unable to pull any words from his mind.

They stand there, blue and green facing one another as they were barely an hour before, only this time struck dumb.

Jeno breaks the silence. “You damaged half of the city.”

“I have no regrets. That company’s been a cover for a drug ring for almost a year now. I did what I had to do.”

“I’ve been trying to protect the city from you for the past two years.”

“I don’t think of you as a protector. More like a distraction.”

“What the hell even are your powers?”

“Astral and temporal plane manipulation. Sorry that it’s a bit more complex than the weather.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“Basically magic, Jeno. Magic.”

“Can I… Can we both change before we have this conversation?”

* * *

 

They’re now sitting on the couch, both in pajamas even though it is only four in the afternoon.

“So, villainy?”

“I consider it vigilantism, but it’s illegal either way, so…” Jaemin shrugs.

“You said something about a drug ring?”

Jaemin sighs and leans back. “I do my research. I only attack companies that deserve to be attacked.”

“So, you’re like corporate Batman.”

“Not even remotely. I teach elementary school art, Jeno. I’m hardly Batman.”

“Red Hood, then.”

“I don’t kill people, Jeno. I am a perfectly moral vigilante.”

“Why are you sitting all the way over there?”

“I’m waiting for you to arrest me, honestly.”

Jeno’s eyes widen. He’s shocked, really, to think that this is a genuine fear that Jaemin has.

“That’s work stuff. It stays out of the house.”

Jaemin raises an eyebrow. “And when you inevitably catch me? You’re going to have to arrest me at some point.”

“Not if Hex mysteriously disappears.”

“Jeno…”

“Just, think about it. No more villainy means no more fights. No more fear of being arrested.”

“And what do you suggest I do with these powers instead? Keep using them to help you heal just a little bit faster every time you come home with a new injury? Jeno, I can’t sit back and let you be in all the danger. I think it’s only fair that if I stop, you stop.”

“Jaemin…”

“See! You don’t want to stop doing good, and I don’t want to stop doing my version of good. We’re at an impasse.”

“I’d give it up for you,” Jeno whispers, eyes on the ground, and Jaemin has to lean in to catch the words.

“Babe, you can’t. Ninety percent of my students look up to you. The city needs you, and that partner of yours. I’m the least evil this city has to deal with.”

“Shifter can handle it. There’s a couple other supers that he can call in if he needs help. Crater… or Sunstrike!”

“Jeno…”

“No, really. I’ll turn in the cape. The suit goes away forever, but only if yours does too.”

“Once a year.”

“What?”

“Once a year. We get to put the suits on and do our thing one day a year. That’s it. Every other day, we become normal.”

“Jaemin, what if I catch you on that one day?”

“We deal with it. All superheroes must make a sacrifice. One day, Jeno. That’s all I’m asking.

Jeno mulls it over for a moment. “Anything for you, babe. Anything for you.”

* * *

 

A year later, Jeno swings in through the window again to find Jaemin sitting on the couch.

“The city’s praising you as it’s newest hero for getting those kids out of the burning elementary school,” he says, pulling his mask and gloves off.

“Once a year, babe. I think it was a good use of that one time.”

Jeno pulls Jaemin in for a kiss, both still mostly dressed in their costumes. “I think it was too, babe.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm here again! With another nomin fic! I'm trying my best ya'll, I promise.
> 
> Kudos = cuddles  
> comments = food  
> We need food to survive, and cuddles to function.
> 
> Feel free to ask any questions about this AU. This one might be a little confusing on paper.  
> (For those wondering, Mark is Crater (super strength) and Donghyuck is Sunstrike (light manipulation))


End file.
